We Meet Again
by FlovesE4ever
Summary: Echizen Ryoma competes for the French open and we meet some familiar faces.
1. Chapter 1

Title- We meet again

Summary- Echizen Ryoma competes for the French open and we meet some familiar faces. Unexpectedly though, Ryoma learns that perhaps sempais are not people who are just older than you, they are people that you can learn to respect and maybe even love...

Note- I dedicate this to a pairing that isn't usually loved… and I'll give a hint, no, it's not Momo/Ryoma. It makes me kind of sad because it's actually my favorite pairing. But after you read this chapter, you can obvious tell which pairing it'll be. ; )

Disclaimer- Would I be here if I did own them? That would just be rubbing it in… .

Warnings- shonen-ai, a little bit of swearing, and crappy writing

Chapter 1

You've never experienced a hot summer until you've played pro tennis in Roland Garros. The French June heat while grinding on the brick colored clay courts is tiring on the body, and on a person's mental toughness. It's hard for even a pro tennis player to not pass out from all the factors of Roland Garros alone. Though, everyone can tell that Japan's Echizen Ryoma isn't just a pro tennis player.

Echizen Ryoma achieved the rank of number one in the men tennis world, a first for any Japanese man. Though, pro tennis aged his body, instead of looking 17 like he should, he looked like he was about 20 years old. Dark hair that gleamed green under the sun, was now done to his chin, and sometimes it curled at the ends from all the sweat from a match. His face had narrowed slightly, and his nose, if looked upon closely, had freckled from black heads. The unnoticeable acne and his golden eyes were the only things that were a 17-year-old boy's qualities. His muscles were lean, but were sculpted by strength training and pro tennis matches. Even though he was barely five feet, nine inches tall, his physical capabilities were more than meets the eye.

"Oi, Echizen, I booked our flight to Paris at 4:00pm. That way I don't have to work hard in waking you up," Momoshiro said, shutting down the laptop. Ryoma nodded, and continued packing the last of his clothes. The responsiblity of being number one in the world, was having so much stuff to wear by your sponsors! Takeshi also had a lot of stuff to pack, for he was also quite a tennis star himself. He's ranked number nine in the men tennis world, but the pro circuit didn't age him much. The only changes were subtle like height, muscle mass, and a slight tan from playing outside. But the charming things like his smile, skin texture, and his personality were completely untouched.

"Momo-sempai better raise his rank, otherwise I might think less of him," Ryoma remarked jokingly.

"OI! Just because you're higher ranked, doesn't mean you can talk to me like that. Besides, I missed Rome and Monte Carlo (1), and I'm still ranked nine," Takeshi yelled back, even though he knew his friend was joking. Besides, it is quite an accomplishment to miss such important tournaments and still be ranked so high. Even though they always followed this pattern of teasing, they looked at it as comforting.

"Mada mada dane," Ryoma muttered, and zipped up his bag. A soft meow was uttered by Karupin, who looked very sleepy. Ryoma nodded, seemingly understanding that the cat couldn't sleep without his company on the bed. Momoshiro smiled onto his kouhai, this was one of the few times the boy acted...well, cute. Now he regreted thinking that, for he thought of Echizen Ryoma's father and shivered. Ryoma yawned, snuggling closer to Karupin. Takeshi yawned, he was exhausted as well, and whispered a "good night," to Echizen and Karupin, and biked back to his own apartment for some needed sleep…

...

The warm weather in Paris seemed even worse for there was barely and wind. The French Open was two weeks away, so it was obvious that Kaidoh Kaoru was practicing with his trainer Inui Sadaharu. Kaidoh's scary looks seemed to fade a little as he grew older. His eyes still held a certain glare to them naturally, but he didn't hiss as much anymore. His full lips were a pale pink after the sun baked him in the courts. His trademark bandannas pushed his hair out of the way to show his mature face had finally caught up to his god-like body. Inui didn't age that harshly, for he didn't push his body as hard as Kaidoh's, after all, a coach doesn't have to be as fit as the player. The only thing that really changed was Sadaharu's face, and it only grew older by perhaps one year compared to when he was in ninth grade.

"Kaidoh, even though this is a grand slam that'll suit your game and you want to do well, please do only low impact training in your days off during the tournament, for it might cause you injuries," Inui said, writing something quickly in his journal after drilling Kaidoh.

"If you say so Inui-sempai, though, sometimes I need to run in order to sleep. By the way, how much did my ranking increased now that I qualify for the French open?" Kaoru asked softly, since he was sitting right next to Inui.

"Ah, I haven't checked my computer yet, but there's an 85 percent chance that your rank is at least in the eighties again," Inui paused, and wrote in his journal again. Kaidoh nodded and looked up at the blue sky as he rested. The humidity made it hard to relax though.

There were barely any clouds in the sky, and the sun beamed down on everyone in this city. The beads of sweat that dripped off of Kaoru whispered a small hiss as it fell onto the boiling clay court. The clay was sticking to everything that had just a drop of moisture, so Kaoru's and Sadaharu's shoes which carried sweat from their legs and feet had especially big clumps of red clay clinging to it. The pounding of tennis balls from other people practicing in other courts filled the silence between Kaidoh and Inui, helping them both relax. Inui checked the time on the tower of the building, and it said it was already 6:30pm.

"Kaidoh, let's pick up the balls and then go back to the hotel. We can ice your muscles before you take a shower, and then we can check your ranking, (2)" Inui smiled, grabbing the cart and started picking up balls like when he was a freshman at Seigaku.

"Yes Inui-sempai," and Kaidoh helped his coach pick up the rest of the tennis balls…

...

The long plane ride to France was tiring to both pro tennis players, even if they were flying first class. Ryoma looked out the window as he petted his sleeping cat, and all he saw were European farms.

"Oi, Echizen, are we close?" Momoshiro asked, just waking up from a nap. Ryoma shook his head, and continued to pet Karupin. Little purrs came from the sleeping cat as Ryoma continued stroking him.

"Momo-sempai, has Kaidoh-sempai recovered from his injury at last year's Australian open?" Ryoma asked as he continued looking out the window. Momo shrugged, "I'm not sure. His back problems were severe(3), and even if he did, he'd still skip a lot of events so he could train and get back in shape." Ryoma smiled and said, "Eh, that doesn't sound like Kaidoh-sempai at all,"

Takeshi smiled back and said, "Who knows? He might be waiting for us right now." The two of them stopped talking, for their food had arrived. The smell of food woke Karupin up and now the three of them started eating…

...

Kaidoh was taking his usual morning jog until he saw a French newspaper. It bold letters in French, it read, "The Champion is coming to Defend his Title!" with Echizen Ryoma's picture under it. Kaoru stopped and took a copy, looking at the picture. Their freshman from Seigaku certainly changed. Especially in height. Sure, he was still taller than Ryoma, but now the difference probably wasn't as noticable now. But the height wasn't the only thing that changed, Echizen had no baby fat left on his face. His eyes seemed bigger now that it was gone, and more serious. He really aged the most out of the Seigaku regulars.

"You really are something, aren't you Echizen?" Kaidoh asked with a slightly smile. It was just then Kaidoh felt a soft poke on his shoulder. He turned around to see it was a little old lady with glasses. She looked like she was tired, and had beads of sweat running down her face (well, it is a hot day).

"Excuse me young man, you've been standing there for about five minutes," She said. Kaidoh blushed and moved out of the way for the woman, and continued his jog with the newspaper in hand. It was strange, Kaidoh usually didn't get distracted by anything except the occasional animal or two. He ignored it and ran even harder, his arms and legs moving in a steady rhythm. Then he slowed his pace, for Inui would be angry if he ran too fast. In his mind, he could hear Inui's monotone voice saying "It's not race to the finish line. This is about muscle endurance Kaidoh," and with that, he tossed the newspaper in the trash and slowed his pace back to normal speed, forgetting about Echizen...

...

Well, before I end this chapter, I'll explain some things that might not be so…understanding.

(1)- Rome and Monte Carlo are part of the Master series tournaments that not only can sky rocket a tennis pro's rank, but also gives out big prize money (at least 100,000 U.S dollars)

(2)- It might seem weird, but in order to prevent cramps and over-working, you have to place the muscles in ice cold water for about 5 minutes in order to cool them down. Then after that, relax them in warm heat. A lot of athletes forget about this process until they get a cramp or injury during a big event.

(3)- Kaidoh used to be ranked number three in the tennis world, but due to an injury, he had to rest and recover for about a year and a half.

Well, review whether you like or hate my story. I do love pointers. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for those who reviewed. I don't really know if any of you pay attention, but I want to be courteous and reply to you as well before the beginning of the chapter.

**Dragon Reverb- **To settle this, yes, there is one pairing that is… not straight? There are straight pairings though besides the one that isn't, and they're more mentioned. And thank you for the first review. :)

**Tsubame0104- **Yes, it is an odd pairing. XD I wasn't even sure how I thought of this story. As for other regulars, you'll see.

...

It was around eight in the morning when Ryoma and Takeshi's plane landed in Paris. The sky was blinding everyone with light, and everyone on the plane felt sluggish from exhaustion. Of course, not everyone complained as loudly about this as Momoshiro did to Echizen (poor Echizen).

"Eh, I hate flying so much! Why did I even decide to be a pro?" Momoshiro sighed. Ryoma just pushed his hat down to cover his face from his friend, and got up to get his carry on bag and Karupin. Ryoma sat back down for they were at the back and needed to wait for people to get out. Once some people got up and left, Momoshiro also got up and grabbed a backpack from under his seat. It was after that, the two teens looked at each other with the same thought in mind.

"Hey, Echizen,"

"Yeah Momo-sempai?"

"Do you really think Kaidoh will be there waiting for us at Roland Garros?"

Ryoma smirked, "Only one way to find out," and they both left the plane and on their way to the hotel…

…

"Achoo!" Kaidoh didn't know what happened, the sneeze just came out of nowhere. Inui looked back at Kaidoh as he was making tea (no, not Penal tea), and asked if he was alright. Kaoru hissed he was fine, and continued stretching. Kaidoh sat on the floor with his legs together and out in front of him. His arms then came together and stretched out for his legs. His hamstrings felt a pressure, and his back also felt a little tight. It was then after feeling this he stretched some more so that his finger tips could touch the back of his feet. Kaidoh Kaoru was just like that, if he felt pain, he'd only push himself even more. But this didn't get passed Inui Sadaharu…

"Kaidoh, you're pushing your back to hard. If you want to stretch it, lay on your stomach and try to make your feet touch your head." His coach requested.

Kaoru did just that and felt his back start to loosen a bit from it. As soon as he got comfortable in the stretch though, a knock on the door was heard. Kaidoh retracted back and stood up to get the door, to see it was Tachibana An.

"Hi Kaidoh-kun, I'd just like to say that my brother's sorry he can't practice with you tomorrow for he has some unexpected press conference. I hope that's ok," she said with her sweet voice. Ann certainly grew over time. The female sibling of the Tachibana family was five feet, eight inches tall, and was very slim. An's body was extremely slim, but it wasn't a stick figure, and it made her curvy body even more appealing to not just men, but fashion. Her hair was a little past shoulder length now, but was still pushed out of her face by bow shaped barrettes. And, instead of wearing simple shirts and jeans, she wore cute vintage dresses that didn't go past her knee. The one she wore right there was a charcoal colored dress with a deep v to emphasize her chest (she had a white cami under the dress to hide her cleavage) and was synched by a wide, white patent leather belt. Her beige stockings made a great contrast to the dress and her cobalt blue pumps gave a nice pop of color as well.

"That's fine, and thank you for telling us," Kaidoh said. He still wasn't used to talking to girls, even if he's known An and her brother for quite a while.

"You're welcome. Hey, if you want, I could practice with you tomorrow," she suggested with a smile. She wasn't that serious, but hey, who knows?

"I'm sorry Tachibana-chan, but being a model for probably doesn't allow you to be as fit as Kaidoh," Inui answered. An just laughed it off and said good bye before she closed the door. Kaidoh went back to the floor and stretched while Inui decided to turn on his computer to find out who is participating in Roland Garros. Now they finally know everyone who's playing because qualifying matches are over. As he skimmed through the players' names, he realized there were quite a number of Japanese men on the tour that they knew from middle school besides Tachibana Kippei.

"So Kaidoh… who do you think we should ask to practice against you tomorrow? There is Fuji Yuuta, Kisarazu Atsushi, Shinji Ibu, Sanada Genichiro, Kirihara Akaya, Jirou Akutagawa…or Echizen Ryoma and Momoshiro Takeshi," Inui listed off as he scrolled down the list. Kaidoh's eyes seemed to get bigger when the last two names were mentioned. Afterwards, he didn't understand why he reacted that way. Of course they would be here, it's the French Open!

"Kaidoh, is there something wrong?" Inui asked, wondering why the younger man hadn't answered him yet.

"Ah, do you even carry Echizen's phone number?" Kaoru asked. Sadaharu smiled and said, "Of course,"...

…

Fuji Yuuta, ranked number four in tennis, was warming up with his tennis coach Mizuki Hajime, his body getting all of Hajime's shots with ease. They rallied like that for about 15 minutes, before Mizuki caught the ball and said, "Alright Yuuta, now that we warmed up your hand-eye coordination, let's do some drills," which Yuuta nodded in agreement too.

"Alright, now, let's first start with the medicine ball," Hajime said. Hajime ran quickly to his tennis bag to pull out a large ball that weighed about 12 pounds. The younger Yuuta brother then went to his coach's side of the court's baseline and waited at the middle.

"Now, I'm going to throw this ball Yuuta-kun, and where ever I throw it, you have to catch it and throw it back at me like with a swinging motion like hitting a tennis ball. Okay?" Fuji Yuuta nodded and focused his eyes on the ball. Hajime threw it straight at Yuuta's body, where Yuuta moved to the right so he could catch the ball with his left arm and then threw it back at Mizuki like he was told. Mizuki Hajime threw it as randomly as he could, but Fuji Yuuta was able to get them all. After 40 minutes of that exercise, Mizuki stopped and order the younger Fuji sibling to rest while he checked quickly at the board outside the Roland Garros tennis courts (1) to see who Yuuta was playing in the first round.

On the board was a chart that had 128 names written on it. He looked up to see that Yuuta's first round match was with a man from Argentina named Armano Encic, only ranked in the 100s. But Yuuta's next opponent in the next round would probably be Shinji Ibu. Hajime frowned and then ran back to the courts.

Once he arrived back, Yuuta asked him who he was facing.

"It doesn't matter, you'll win your first match for sure. Your second round is going to be a challenge. Remember Ibu Shinji, you beat him at Wimbledon last year at the quarter finals? Well, this surface definitely favors his spins, so be careful and try to win points in a short amount of time," Mizuki warned. Yuuta nodded, knowing the 'spot' that effected Ryoma when they were in middle school, his brother told him about it.

"Oi! Yuuta!" and speak of the devil, it was his brother at the entrance of the tennis courts. Yuuta gasped, "Aniki! What are you doing here?" and the older Fuji brother suddenly wrapped his arms around Yuuta and said, "Oh, I've missed you so much. It's not good for a handsome man to be all by himself in the streets of a big city like Paris,"

Mizuki growled and had the urge to yell, "EXCUSE ME! I'M YUUTA'S COACH! I'M ALWAYS WITH HIM!" but fought it off. He would not fall into such middle school tactics. Besides, there was really no fight between them anymore, otherwise Mizuki wouldn't be Yuuta's coach.

"Hm... Kamio, look, there's the Fuji brothers, especially that one who got in the way between my match with Ryoma back then. And there's that weird guy who wears weird sweaters and used to always try to pathetically get the older Fuji brother to notice him. Now that I think back on it, it's really pathetic. Sometimes I wonder if there are really any normal people in tennis. (2) Maybe I should have-"

"Shinji, can we practice now?! You need to practice," Kamio interrupted. Shinji then looked closely at Yuuta and how...much he just changed. His body was still skinny, but all parts of the boy's body were muscle. His shoulders were even bigger now, and his calves made his ankles look more narrow from the muscle. His face though didn't seem to change, except the scar was smaller. It made him feel a little insecure for his body still had a little layer of baby fat from teenage years so he looked less...manly compared to Yuuta. (3)

"I see you've been working out," Shinji said looking at Yuuta. Yuuta was a little surprised, but nodded.

"Yeah, I have. You look like you're in good shape as well," and then it was silence between the two after that. Kamio shook hands with Fuji Syuusuke, and they started talking about tennis. The two weren't that close in middle school, but as they started to become more of the role of managers instead of players (with Kamio, he's Shinji's manager and coach), they understood each other more.

Yuuta and Shinji kept looking at each other until Hajime said, "Well Yuuta-kun, it's been 20 minutes. Practice starts again,"

The younger Fuji brother nodded and looked back at Shinji again.

"I'll see you in the second round," Yuuta said. Shinji nodded and went after Kamio so they could practice as well...

...

It was at around 6:00pm when Ryoma got a phone call.

"Hello?" Ryoma answered.

"Ah, Echizen, it's Inui, I was wondering if you and Momoshiro would like to practice with Kaidoh tomorrow?"

Ryoma smiled, "We'd love to sempai. What time?"

"Around 3:00pm at the practice courts, I need to go grocery shopping and pick up some stuff from Kaidoh's sponsors,"

"Oh, okay then. Ja,"

"Ja," and with that, Inui hung up. Momoshiro just came out of the shower, the long jog outside really worked up a sweat. He noticed Echizen was holding his phone, something he rarely did, so he asked him who he was talking to.

"I was talking to Inui-sempai. Sounds like we were right about Kaidoh-sempai after all," the younger boy said. Takeshi could only smile and say, "Hehehe, that viper is full of surprises."...

...

Eh, some more things I should have explained, but get in the way of writing. :P

(1) Roland Garros closes their courts to the public before the tournament so that the pros that arrive early can practice on the clay. The clay at Roland Garros is a special clay made of crushed brick and water unlike most clay courts, and it's a bright red in color. Since it's made of crushed brick instead of the material usually used to make clay courts, there's more chance if a tennis player slips and falls on the surface to get a scratch that'll get infected.

(2) There really is no such thing as normal tennis players on the show Prince of Tennis. I'd have to say either Kawamura Takashi or Fuji Yuuta are the only ones that can really compete as normal. XD

(3) Poor Shinji. He shouldn't feel so insecure. hug

Well, thank you for reading. Please review whether you hate my story or like it, so I can improve.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello again

Hello again. Well, to not be rude, I want to answer back to my quick reviewers.

**tennisnohime- **Yes, Shinji may be a genius, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have flaws. As for normal, would we really love all the Prince of Tennis cast if they weren't so weird?

**Tsubame0104**- Kaidoh has a back injury. That's a good question since I was going to go into more detail about it this chapter. ;) Nothing doesn't really get by you.

**tUrNtOfAcEtHiSwAy**- I really know everything and what everyone is supposed to do in my story, it's just how I'm going to write it. And I'll try to make you happy when I can.

**ladywatertiger**- I think I did make Kaidoh in my story a little…out of character, I'll try to control myself on that for now on. And yes, there will be other pairings, but only male/female pairings and some hints of male/male, but only hints.

**RandomnessUnleashed.- **Thanks, I'll try to update asap.

**Dragon Reverb- **Okay then, good bye.

...

Momoshiro Takeshi was taking a jog until he saw an giant poster on a building. It was a beautiful woman sitting and holding a bottle of perfume, and the words above said, "Beauty of the Exotics". But it wasn't the perfume that interested Momoshiro. His eyes bugged out when he realized that the woman was someone very familiar to him. Someone who had an older brother who was ranked number two in the world right now...and her name is Tachibana An. But it wasn't just the fact that it was An, it was also the fact that she was wearing only a blanket that exactly didn't hide her nice figure.

"It's a nice picture isn't it?" a feminine voice asked.

"Yeah, it sure is," and then Momoshiro thought, "oh crude" he knew that voice. He turned to see it was the lady on the poster, Tachibana An.

"Hi Tachibana imouto," he said, trying to cover up what he said before. She started laughing and gave Momoshiro a hug.

"Oh Momoshiro, it's so good to see you. How are you?" she asked as she let go. Momoshiro smiled and said he was doing good, and that he was going to play with Kaidoh later that afternoon.

"Darn, I wanted to invite you to dinner at a restaurant I like. Could you maybe come over at 8:30pm at Le Rousseau?" she asked. Even though she knew practice was important, but the tournament was still twelve days away, leaving Momoshiro plenty of time to practice.

"Sure, I'll just tell Echizen and Kaidoh that I'll be leaving early," he said. An smiled, "Okay, good bye Momoshiro," and with that, the two went separate ways...

...

Shinji Ibu was in the tennis section of the sports store, trying to find Babolat Tonic+ Natural Gut 16 (1). He was in Europe after all, and was pretty expensive, so it shouldn't be a problem finding and buying it. Though, as he was looking for it, he saw a familiar face, Echizen Ryoma. He tapped the younger man on the shoulder, to see he was buying three packs of Babolat Tonic+ Natural Gut 16.

"Hey, is that all that's left Echizen?" Shinji asked. Ryoma nodded and handed him one of the packs.

"You look fat to me for some reason (2)," Ryoma said and walked away. Shinji blushed and then poked his stomach, "I'm not fat Echizen. That's not a way to talk to your sempais you know,"

He caught up with Echizen at the register and saw there was also that younger Fuji brother. It seemed that Ryoma read his mind when he said, "Ah, you're here too. This is weird, reminds me of middle school," A lot of things before the French open reminded Shinji of middle school. Yuuta and Ibu looked at each other and just nodded. Echizen left after paying for his things, leaving them to stare at each other.

"I thought I wouldn't see you until the second round," Yuuta said. Shinji Ibu shrugged, "I didn't either, Paris is a big city," this was an awkward moment where they stared at each other and Shinji was finishing his sentences earlier than usual. Yuuta just left though, having nothing in his hand, and Shinji just calmly paid for his things...

...

Tachibana Kippei sat in a large room. He was seated on a comfortable wooden chair that was behind a long table covered in a navy blue cloth that reached the floor. To his right was his manager, Yanagi Renji who was looking out into the crowd very calmly, even though this was the biggest press conference they had. Tachibana's coach and also Sanada and Kirihara's coach, Yukimura Seiichi (3), smiled innocently at the reporters, making some of the women reporters even swoon a little. Kippei took a deep breath and looked at the clock. It was 4:35p.m, as soon as it was 4:45p.m, the reporters' questions would pour in. In the mean time, all the reporters were writing down all the questions they could think to ask Tachibana Kippei, and left lots of room for other questions the other reporters though of.

And it was going to turn 4:45p.m...now!

A woman reporter's hand raised high into the air and asked, "Kippei, how do you feel about going into the French open?" Kippei shrugged his shoulders and answered, "I feel pretty good. No cramps, no pain, and nothing bothering personally either, so I'm good,"

"Do you have strategy on how to beat Ryoma in the finals?" another reporter asked. Seiichi laughed in a slightly evil way, saying, "Wait until the man gets to the finals first," Since he was charismatic, the people laughed with him, not getting what he was saying. Renji smiled a little, wondering how people can be so stupid sometimes.

"How come your wife isn't here?" and Tachibana sigh. Did they expect a woman who just gave birth two months ago to really attend a tennis tournament that she could watch safely at home? But he answered it, "I don't want to put anymore stress on my wife after the labor of my son. I know that at home she is safe with her sister, and she and the baby can cheer me on," Some of the reporters went "Aw" making him blush. Renji looked at the clock, only ten minutes have passed. If there wasn't so much money involved in this, he wouldn't have set this up. The things like conferences are so...troublesome.

The conference continued on like that for over two hours, but the reporters and the cameras kept on going.

"Alright, one last question, and then he needs to rest," Yanagi said, looking at Yukimura who agreed.

"Kippei, how long do you think it will take for Kaoru Kaidoh to get up to the top three again? There's a lot of Japanese men in the top 20 to fight through as well," a reporter said. Tachibana smiled and said, "If it's the same Kaidoh that I'm thinking about, then it's really up to him..."

...

Echizen Ryoma felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and fished it out. It was Momoshiro calling him.

"Hello?"

"Oi Echizen, something important came up. You'll need to go to practice with Kaidoh by yourself," he said. Ryoma looked at the poster on the building with An's picture and smirked.

"Eh, Momo-sempai should focus on tennis instead of women. You're like my dad," Ryoma heard Takeshi huff and said, "It's not like that! We're just friends who haven't seen each other in a long time,"

Ryoma's smirk widened and he just said, "Yeah yeah, I'll tell Inui as soon as you hang up." Momoshiro was happy with that and said his good bye and hung up. Echizen started calling Inui's number to tell him that he was the only one going to practice. Though, he wasn't the one who answered the phone...

"Hello?" a rough voice answered.

"Kaidoh-sempai?!" Ryoma almost dropped his phone. He heard Kaoru quietly hissed, meaning he gasped too loudly on the phone.

"What is it Echizen?" he asked. Ryoma answered that he was the only one that was going to show up for practice, for Momo-sempai had a date with Tachibana An. Kaidoh seemed to understand when he went, "Ah" and everything got quiet between them.

"How have you been Echizen?" Kaidoh asked. That was strange, Kaoru usually didn't try to start a conversation unless it was an ever-so-predictable argument with Momoshiro Takeshi.

"...Good Kaidoh-sempai, but it's more like I should ask you that question. That car accident looked pretty horrible on television," Ryoma said. Kaidoh hissed and said, "I'll talk about it later, bye Ryoma," Ryoma didn't notice that Kaidoh said his first name.

"Bye Kaidoh-sem-"

"Kaoru," he interrupted.

"What?" Echizen asked.

"Call me Kaoru. We've known each other for over five years," Kaoru explained. Ryoma shrugged and said, "Bye Kaoru..."

...

"Hoy! Fuji, thanks for buying our tickets to France and the French Open. We can't wait to see everyone play," a hyper voice burst out. Fuji's eyes opened to find it was his friend Kikumaru Eiji and his other friend Oishi Shuichiro.

"It's no problem, really guys. Yuuta pays me very well as his manager," Fuji said, but Oishi was the type of person who wouldn't let a nice gesture not get paid back.

"Well, why don't I treat you to dinner to any restaurant in Paris?" Oishi asked. Syuusuke thought for a moment, and then he remembered something. Oh, he was thinking sadistic thoughts again.

"Actually Oishi, there is one restaurant I'd like to try. It's called Le Rousseau," he said. Oishi smiled, "I remember my wife and I went on a double date with Eiji and his girlfriend. It's a nice place,"

Fuji seemed to smile even bigger.

"Great, how about we go at 8:00p.m? I want do some shopping first..."

...

Ryom showed up at the Roland Garros, waiting for Kaoru to arrive. He arrived early, thinking Kaidoh would as well. But then exactly at 6:00p.m, Kaidoh walked by, looking at him with his almond eyes. They didn't waste any time, they went to their court and grabbed some balls to start hitting. Back and forth with two balls at the same time, trying to warm up. Both of them knew the other stretched before practicing so they didn't even bother asking. After ten minutes of doing that, Kaidoh caught both of the balls and went to the service line, meaning he wanted to practice volleying. And there they took turns with that until they asked each other if they were ready. Both answering with a "yes" and Kaidoh went to serve first.

His slice serve even on this surface bounced high, but Ryoma was able to get it before it reached higher than his shoulder. Kaidoh got to it quickly and hit it on the other side of the court. Ryoma anticipated it though and chipped the ball with an unexpected drop shot. Kaoru ran to the net, and hit a boomerang snake that went past Ryoma, making him the winner of the point. Echizen looked at his sempai and smiled, "I see you've made a full recovery,"

They continued points like that until it ended 7-5 in favor of younger man. Ryoma and Kaoru looked at each other, panting and barely holding their rackets. It was a long set they played, and the clay wasn't exactly helping by sticking to their shoes and weighing them down. They finally sat down on a bench next to the court and looked at each other through drench sweat bangs.

"...Ryoma, what was it that you wanted to know about the accident?" Kaidoh asked. Ryoma sighed from exhaustion, and said, "I didn't hear much from the news and the doctors said you didn't want to talk to anyone. After that, everyone decided that we'd wait for you to show up at an event because we know that you would never give up tennis. So, yeah...what happened?" Kaoru looked up at the sky, that was glowing a peach color at 7:50p.m.

"My match was supposed to be at 10:00 p.m on center court at the U.S open. It was raining that day, and Inui was driving very carefully. But a man who was drinking a lot that night decided he was okay to drive and rammed right into my side of the car. I woke up in the hospital and they said I shouldn't walk until I completed physical therapy. Really, my whole body throbbed ever time I moved a muscle," Kaidoh explained, and put his arm around Ryoma's shoulders to pull him a little closer.

"Kaidoh- Kaoru-"

"I was depressed for quite some time. Until I remembered I had something to look forward to," and reached in for a kiss...

...

Alright, the end of the chapter explanations.

(1) Babolat Tonic+ Natural Gut is a type of string. This certain type of string actually is used really when you want even more power on the ball. Usually this is used by someone who uses a lot of spins in their game and need some extra heaviness on the ball.

(2) I just like poking fun at Shinji. XD

(3) Yukimura is also the manager of Sanada and Kirihara. Usually people aren't managers/coachs of more than one person, but it's Yukimura. XD He's special.

Well, thank you for reading, and please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, more replies to reviews again.

Yagyuu Hiroshi- Yes, there are 4 specific tournaments that have 1.5 million dollars in prize money. They are called Grand Slams, and the French open is one of them.

tennisnohime- Yes, Shinji is just too cute to not tease. XD

...

Tachibana Kippei lay in his hotel room alone. His sister usually sat and hung out with him before he went to sleep, but she went out to visit Momoshiro. He just hoped that she didn't do anything that could hurt Momoshiro emotionally. Otherwise he wouldn't do so well in the French Open, and anyone who loved competition like Tachibana Kippei wouldn't like that. He turned on his left side, and looked out the window. It was amazing that a big city like Paris, with all it's lights and tourism, that you could see stars. He sighed and held his hand up to make it look as if he were touching them. Sometimes he wondered how everyone else handled their fame and success in the tennis world. It was so fast paced, Tachibana never imagined his life would be like this.

"Maybe I should retire," he said to himself. He did have a lot of money, and he knew he wouldn't have to work again as long as he lived simple like he and his wife wanted. But there was just one thing that was stopping him, and he knew that one thing.

"But I love this game too much," and it was his drug.

A knock came from the door of the hotel, and Tachibana went up to answer it. It was a man about his age, holding a letter in his hand.

"This is for Tachibana Kippei from the head-director of the French Open tounament," the messanger said, and handed it to Tachibana once he showed identification. The man left and Tachibana closed the door softly behind him and opened up the folded paper. He read through the paper quickly to see it was an invitation to a party a week before the French Open. Kippei didn't like the idea of going to a party before a tournament before he realized who the letter was from. Not only was he the head-director for the French Open tournament, but it was a familiar friend.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu..." (1)

...

As Kaidoh reached in for a kiss, Ryoma pushed him away. Kaidoh had fast reflexes though, so he caught himself before he fell off the bench.

"Kaidoh-sempai, damn it! I can't..." Ryoma muttered, looking more confused than Kaoru's ever seen him. Kaidoh held his hand and asked why. Ryoma sighed and said, "If I try to get into a relationship during my career, it'll distract me. Whether it's during a happy time or a sad time, I won't be 100 percent focused on tennis." Kaidoh smiled and hugged the younger man.

"It's okay. You just tell me when you're ready to try it. Here," and grabbed Echizen's cellphone and put in his cellphone number, "I've always been good at waiting (2)," and left...

...

Momoshiro Takeshi and Tachibana An were entering the restaurant, looking at the place in amazement. The ceilings seemed to be as high as the sky, tables were great in number, and everyone looked happy.

"Table for two please," An said to the man. He nodded and he took them to their table...which was right next to Syuusuke, Oishi, Eiji, Yuuta, and Mizuki's table. Momoshiro's eyes bugged out while the female Tachibana went over and said hi, gushing about how this was such a cool coincidence. As An kept talking more, Momoshiro looked at the person who was responsible for this coincidence...his sempai Fuji Syuusuke. Syuusuke could feel someone's eyes on him, and opened his own to see who it was.

"Ah, Momo, isn't this such a lovely predictament? Now we can all eat dinner together," the older Fuji said, and told the waiter to instead of giving them a table, just get their table two more seats.

Oh, this was going to be one long night...

...

Kirihara was outside jogging still, trying to get some low impact training in before going to bed. He put weights on his ankles to help simulate what it'd be like when he played on the clay as he jogged. There were lots of skaters and bar-hoppers he passed by on his jog, but it didn't distract him. It was when he went to the park and he noticed two other people jogging, Atobe Keigo and Jirou Akutagawa. He sped up so now that he was jogging along side the two.

"Hm, never thought you'd actually jog outside Atobe Keigo," Kirihara joked. Atobe looked at him with an annoyed look, and said, "Ore-sama guessed you're just one of those people who don't understand the difference between a nice city like Paris and a dinky town that only has a thousand people." Jirou kept looking at Akaya, wondering why he looked so familiar. He knew he was from the pro circuit, but he knew he saw him before...wait!

"Hey, you were that eighth grade Rikkaidai ace that lost to Fuji Syuusuke a long time ago! Boy, I wonder how good at tennis Fuji is now? HE WAS SO COOL! I bet he still is, isn't he Atobe?!" Jirou yelled. Fuji always made him so hyper. Atobe just nodded, not wanting to talk about Fuji Syuusuke while he was jogging and helping Jirou not fall asleep while jogging. Kirihara looked at the blonde with an angry stare, trying to say silently, "I'm not just some guy Fuji beat you know!" but he knew it would be in vain. He knew Jirou. Atobe would remind him of people whom he adored, and that was how he even stayed awake in a match. He wondered how the boy became a pro if he had to be motivated every time he had to do something tennis related.

"Don't look at Jirou like that peasant. Ore-sama knows you're not that much different yourself," and that made Akaya stop as the other two continued jogging. What was that about?

"I'm nothing like him," Kirihara whispered to himself. But then he thought, maybe Jirou dreamed of those moments when he was pushed and lost, and how glorious the feeling was to have to play better than your best in order to even keep up. And the adrenaline of your team mates patting you on the back, even if you lost, they were just so proud of how you did. Those were great times, and that was what made him want to play tennis and be a pro as well...

"I hate it when rich kids are right..."

...

Inui went back to his and Kaidoh's hotel room, finding a letter at the foot of the door. He picked it up, and skimmed through. His mouth gaped a little once he found out it was from Tezuka. Even Inui hadn't had enough college education to become a director of a tennis tournament and organize how everything would be.

"Tezuka, somehow, you always win against me," he said with a smile.

_**Dear Kaidoh Kaoru and his coach Inui Sadaharu**_

_**A week before the French Open, I would like to treat all 128 players, their coachs, and managers, to a party held at the grounds of the Louvre museum.**_

_**There will be alcoholic beverages and an assortment of food there.**_

_**I hope both of you can come.**_

_**From the Head-director and Organizer of the French Open,**_

_**Tezuka Kunimitsu**_

...

Shinji sat down in the park, drinking some juice that he brought from a cafe. Nothing happened until he saw Atobe Keigo and Jirou Akutagawa jogging by. They stopped to take a rest and then looked at Shinji. Jirou though went to sleep quietly against a tree next to Ibu's bench, and Atobe sat down next to Shinji. He looked at the young man and how calm he looked.

"Neh, you should be training instead of behaving like a fat kid," and woke Jirou up so they could jog again. Shinji poked his stomach again and said to himself, "Who do I like? David Nalbandian? (3)"...

...

This evening wasn't the way Momoshiro planned it out to be. An was talking to Fuji, Eiji and Oishi were catching up with each other and how they've been doing, and Yuuta and Mizuki were just talking about if this was a coincidence or not. He sighed and continued eating his filet mignon, trying to forget about this nightmare coming true.

An noticed his sigh and tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey, are you mad at me?" He looked at her and smiled, "Of course not. I just thought we could spend some time catching up together just...by ourselves." An felt kind of bad that she had been ignoring him, and leaned over in his ear, "Why don't you and I meet La Petite Cour? That way we can dine with my husband as well." Momo gasped and almost choked. Her husband?!

"Hehe, someone I know?" he asked. She nodded, "Yeah actually, Kamio Akira," and Takeshi felt the urge to bang his head against the table...damn it...he did all this for a woman who's already married. But she was a great friend so...

"Oh, that's great!"...He guessed he could just be friends...

...

Echizen was resting on his hotel bed, trying to sleep his problems away. The thing is, they wouldn't let him go to sleep. After all, how would you feel if your friend just reached in for a kiss out of nowhere? Especially since you promised yourself that you wouldn't have a relationship until you retired from tennis. And then it reminded you of those other people you hurt and how much they cried...

Ryoma grabbed the other pillow on his bed and smacked it on his head. He already had enough guilt on his mind, why should he bring up anymore?

He looked at the hotel alarm clock to see it was 10:30p.m. Echizen looked at his cellphone and then looked at the clock. He couldn't do this. Relationships always distract people from their goals. Like his dad, he was married and had a son, and it distracted him from being number one. His dad wanted to raise him and that made him quit. Ryoma didn't want that to happen to him, but yet...Kaoru was a great rival and was really the first step for him into developing his own game. Finally, he grabbed his cellphone and called him...

...

Well, you know what these are for by now...

1. Yes, Tezuka is pretty successful. He organizes the French Open and everything. ;) Yeah, I'll explain what he went threw to get through highschool and college before age 19 at the party.

2. I always pictured Kaidoh as a romantic deep down inside if he really wanted it. XD I know, it's pathetic.

3. David Nalbandian is a great tennis player, but he has a little tummy problem. He eats a lot, and doesn't like practicing for more than three hours, so he makes his matches longer so he doesn't have to practice. He's also made fun of by lots of commentators who say he's the athlete that'll be 100 lbs heavier once he quits tennis and be in McDonalds' ads. XD Poor David, just because he doesn't have a six-pack, everyone makes fun of him!

Well, thank you for reading, and review whether you like or hate my story. Bye,


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